


Animals Are Evil

by PoisonHw



Category: Watch Dogs (Video Games)
Genre: Hurt feelings, I love them all, M/M, There's a puppy, What am I doing, Wrencus comes at you real quick, awkward hackers boyfriends, i can't write happy, it's a bit sudden honestly, it's cute, sledgehammers too, so sorry for the angst, the second chapter has a lot of cheesy
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-01-08
Updated: 2017-12-05
Packaged: 2018-09-14 13:28:12
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 5,994
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9183637
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/PoisonHw/pseuds/PoisonHw
Summary: Marcus always keeps his promises.





	1. [HALT AND CATCH ... a puppy?]

**Author's Note:**

> I'm supposed to continue my main fic and what do I do instead? Post this. Ugh. At least it's a oneshot and not another multichap :')  
> I hope you enjoy my shitty writing, I guess? I'm sorry.  
> If you see any errors, please point them out to me :D
> 
> Things belong to Ubisoft.

Wrench didn't age. Wrench was an idea, a thought, a concept. The man under the mask was a mortal, but Wrench? Wrench was immortal. He was a superhero in his own way, and everyone knows superheroes never really die, be it in movies or comics and shit. Either they live or they resurrect with some bullshit reason we're supposed to believe (and we do, because people are dumb).

Wrench didn't have a name, nor did he have a birthday. Why would he celebrate the day his stupid ass was born?

So it came as a surprise when he opened the door to his garage and found all of his friends- literally all of them- regrouped around a nice little cake with (too many) candles on it. They had brought all the things you can find at a kid's birthday party: the hats, the confetti, the noisy things, with bright pastel colors. The place had never looked so ugly to him.

"Happy birthday Reginald!"

He groaned. "My name is not- what the fuck are you doing?"

Marcus answered first, wrapping an arm on his best friend's shoulder. "We're celebrating you becoming an old man."

The two O that he got as a reaction made him chuckle, and the huff than followed was just as funny. "I don't like birthdays. I don't have a birthday. Why are you throwing me a birthday party?"

Sitara chimed in. "It was Marcus' idea. And we liked it. Come on, gimme a smile!" she said as she forcefully put a pointy hat over his hooded head.

"Alright. Ok. Just cause I love you guys." he said, his mask putting back a happy mode.

"Great! Let's get to the presents already!"

"Wha- there are presents?"

"Well, there's one. But we all think this is the greatest present you will ever get from anyone."

"Actually" Josh started, "I remember saying it w-" and stopped when he saw the look on the others' faces.

Without saying anything else, they all took a big box from behind them and put it in front of him. It was massive, and full of little holes, almost like it was containing a living being, and it was moving a bit. _It was moving_.  
Wrench slowly lifted his head to face his best friend.

"Marcus Holloway, you did not." but he was rewarded with an enormous grin.

Taking a deep breath, he opened the box, revealing, just as he feared, a puppy. The evil thing started barking as soon as it saw the light, looking at him with big brown eyes and shaking its tail at a speed words could not define. It was all round and fluffy with a light golden fur. It was cute. Therefore, it was evil. Already the thing was planning world domination, along with the next street's cats it hadn't even met yet. _Yet?_

"Marcus I am not holding that thing."

"Yes you are." to mark his word, his friend took the ~~puppy~~ _thing_ in his hands and put it, without question, on Wrench's torso.

And because he had instinct, he didn't let it fall on the ground but took it in his arms instead. Confused for a second as to why he didn't have a face like humans usually did, the dog finally decided it didn't matter and started licking his neck, still waving its tail.  
Refraining the need to laugh (because it _tickled_ ), Wrench extended his arms and was left standing there awkardly, holding in mid-air a puppy who didn't seem to be too comfortable that way. Since he was not either, the hacker put it back in the box.

"I don't want it. Take it back."

"But she likes you!"

"She? Oh my god. What were you guys thinking? What's next, you're gonna tell me _her_ name and tell me I have to keep her and feed her and walk her and all that shit? You know I hate animals!"

"Well this is the opportunity to change your mind cuz I ain't taking her back. Now you give her a name and everyone will be happy to see you with a companion!"

"But I don't _want_ her." at this point, he was whining.

He looked back at the puppy, who was now sitting down and looking at him expectantly, like she understood he was the one supposed to take care or her. She really was cute. And with a little black leather with spikes she'd look great.  
Wait, what was he thinking?! He didn't want this. This thing would ruin his life and be a bother and take all of his time and interfere with about all of his plans and-

But she was cute.

But _evil_.

His mind was racing so fast he didn't realize the emotes on his mask were constantly changing, and the room had gone silent. Puppy, however, still looked very happy and hadn't moved from her box yet.

"I have the feeling I'm gonna regret this. Why did you have to pick a cute one? I wanna put spikes all over her body."

"Well that's good since she's gonna stay with you at all times!" And they were all smiling.

He was definitely going to regret this.

* * *

He was regretting this. The puppy (he had decided to call her Chainsaw, until a better name came to his mind) (which would probably not happen) was intelligent, and soon enough she'd come to understand he was the one she belonged with.  
So, she followed him. Everywhere. Every time. He didn't have a moment of peace because she was _always_ there.

Sometimes he tried to shoo her off and she'd obey, for a moment. She'd go lie down a few feet from him and watch him work from afar, before coming back and asking for... whatever she was asking for, because he never understood.

She probably needed love or something, and he pet her from time to time, only because he had a heart. He didn't like animals. He never did.

She turned out to be afraid of the sledgehammers, and he felt bad but used it to his advantage. Whenever he was in his garage (and she was bothering him, _again_ ) he'd use them as much as possible and Chainsaw would go hiding in a corner.  
She always took a lot of time to come out, time during which he had peace.

Sleeping turned out to be the only thing he could do without his puppy ever bothering him, since apparently she had respect when it came to that. Too bad he didn't sleep much.

Everyone loved her. Everyone. Sitara smiled every time she saw her. Marcus would pet her. Even Josh, who usually always sat in his bubble, in front of his triple screen, would stop for a bit if she came to see him.  
Everyone loved Chainsaw, except for her own master.

Eventually he decided to make the most of it. If she was going to stay with him for as long as she could, she'd look just like him.  
So yeah, he made it himself, the little harness in black leather with little shiny spikes all over her back, and damn if she didn't look great in it. He couldn't even describe the look of pure joy his puppy gave him when he picked her up to put her on the table, and how still she stood (all the while waving her tail) when he put it on her. Didn't even flinch.

How could this dog be so happy when he didn't even give her the love she ~~deserved~~ wanted?

She was also ruining his reputation. A dog was enough, but the fact that she was a puppy didn't make him look that good in the streets. He was not supposed to be that sweet of a potato.

In the end he started wondering why he even bothered going through with this. Marcus didn't want to take her back. Maybe he could sell her? Or even give her. To anyone, really.  
To his own surprise, he found it impossible. All he could think about was how she looked at him with so much puppy love even though he didn't care enough about her. She didn't deserve to be sold to the first person who wanted her. So he kept her. He still regretted it, but he knew he couldn't get himself to give her away.

Chainsaw became officially his the moment he realized that.

Wrench tried. He found something she could consider a toy, kept sledgehammers at a good distance from her and gave her some affection when he could and wanted to. It turned out to be a good idea, because she happily left him alone more often to go sleep where she could (usually, one of the couches).

Slowly, he was getting used to having her by his side, and she started recognizing some of his words and orders, notably when he asked her to stop or to go away.

In a way, all was well.

* * *

Wrench was angry. Or sad. Or both.

The mask incident with the FBI was long gone and they all had managed to get over Horatio's too sudden death. So why was his mood so bad?

He was in his garage, the back door half opened to let in some air. Usually, getting important components out of technologic crap was nice and fun, and he loved it, especially when he got to use the sledgehammers (because these were love and life). But today, he just couldn't concentrate, and it was frustrating.

Life was a bitch at all times, anyways. His face was still the ugliest thing on earth. His feelings had been hiding for so long he felt like he could cry right here, right now. His mind was so full of thoughts at this moment he was probably going to explode, which would be for the best.

Wrench was in love with someone he could never have, and it was all trying to come out at once.

In his rage, he sent everything the table was carrying on the ground, with a loud cry. _Fuck life_.

He made himself a place against a wall, and sank down to the ground. Here he was, stupid 25+ years old boy, hiding behind a mask, hiding his feelings for this one amazing person who was never going to love him back. Even under his goggles, he closed his eyes 

That's when he felt it.

It was wet and little, followed by a whole lot of fur, gently nudging him. He slowly lowered his head. Here was his puppy, who had been quiet since they arrived, trying to get on his lap for god-knew-why. Confused, he let her.  
As soon as she was allowed access, she turned to face him and put a paw on his mask. This intelligent little shit.

"Yeah, you wouldn't judge me, right?"

For probably the first time since she was with him, he gently took off his mask and put it on the floor beside him.

The puppy seemed so surprised he actually had a real human face she almost stumbled backwards. Fortunately, she managed to stay on his lap and waved her tail furiously before trying to lick his whole face, expertly dodging the mouth and eyes while he _giggled_.  
She stopped when he started crying, instead looking at him with a questioning look, and he gave up.

"Hey Chainsaw. Listen to me. I'm gonna tell you something and you must not repeat it, ok?" goddamnit, he was talking to a dog. "You see Marcus? You know Marcus. He always comes to pet you when he's there. He's the one who brought you here, you know. He bought you just for me." he said, with a half-hearted laugh. "Well he's my best friend. It's the kind of relationship you expect not to change, you see, because you're such good friends and you share all of these interests. We have the same references and love the same things and it's all great." 

He made a pause, and his fucking _pet_ was looking at him like she was waiting for the rest of the story, concentrated on his eyes and probably ready to comfort him if needed. He smiled at that.

"So, we're supposed to stay like that. He sees us like that, hell, _everyone_ sees us as bffs. But there's the thing, Chainsaw, I don't just see him like that now. I want more. I think I love him. And I'm pretty sure he doesn't love me this way. That's why," he swallowed a sob, "we can never be more and I'm just hiding all of this inside me and it _hurts_ , you know?" he passed a trembling hand on her head. "No, of course you can't."

And he broke into tears. Without realizing it, he approached her body from his torso and literally hugged her, while she returned the gesture by snuggling against him.

They stayed like that for a good half an hour, until he had no tears left. He took a shaky breath and released her from his grasp.

"You know, I think you _were_ the best idea for a birthday present. I'm sorry I hated you." He dried his eyes with the back of his hand. "So what do I do now girl? Let him go?"

Wrench was probably imagining things, but he could swear he saw a scowl in her eyes. He let out a gentle laugh.

"Yeah. You're probably right. We're no cowards. You gonna help me, huh?" he said as she licked his cheek. "Luv ya too."

Here he was, the punk anarchist with the freaky mask, sitting on the cold ground of his garage, a Golden Retriever puppy on his lap. And he felt good about it all.


	2. love_sucks.exe

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey, look, I'm back!  
> I don't have an excuse. Like, literally, I should have something to say for not writing this second chapter when it's been a YEAR, but I don't know what to say. I'm the slowest writer the world has ever seen. A little chunk of this time (like, a month or two) was because I don't have a tv and couldn't go on my PS4 to get details on some locations (got myself an ethernet cable to remote play on my pc and suddenly my life is changed), but that's about it.
> 
> Yeah.
> 
> I don't even know if it's good enough for y'all, I hope it is, but here's our happier ending. I love these two amazing boyfriends and I want them to live happily ever after with lots of cute doggos. 
> 
> Also I want to thank everyone who gave kudos, you guys are amazing??? I can't believe so many people liked this silly little thing about Wrench and a dog. Incredible. Hope you enjoy this one :)
> 
> Things belong to Ubisoft.

Wrench's new relationship with his puppy didn't go unnoticed.  
She was following him everywhere and he didn't complain. He didn't tell her to go away anymore, and sometimes even let her sleep on his workbench while he worked on destroying shit. When he was sleeping on the couch (hopefully, while others were away), she was often on his belly (where the spikes were not) or at his side.

The others were silent about it, but he saw the smirks behind his back, he heard the soft laughs when Chainsaw showed him a love he responded to and he felt the smiles when he pat her.  
When they were talking nobody said a thing because everyone was working, but once they were all doing separate things? It all started again. He wasn't that affected by it, he was used to people talking behind his back, but this time it was a bit too much. If they wanted to comment, why couldn't they do it out loud?

After a week he had enough. He waited until everyone was in the hackerspace to complain.

"If you guys have something to say about this, please just say it. I'm tired of seeing you hide to mock me or whatever."

"Alright. You _do_ like this dog, don't you?", Marcus grinned.

"We had a little discussion and she agreed to stop being a pain in my ass, yes," Wrench sighed. "Other questions?"

"What did you two talk about?" The tone was sarcastic.

Chainsaw got up from the couch she was sleeping on to sit next to her owner's left leg, looking at the others like she was meant to protect him from whoever moved even one toe.

"Sorry, none of your business. We just did." The anarchist looked at her, happy they couldn't see the smile beginning to form on his lips.

"It seems to me like she's doing more than giving you space," Josh thought out loud. "You do keep her around a lot and look at her face, I think she just started hating us because you tensed up a bit."

"And I've seen you sleep together on this very couch."

"Also she's got a toy. She didn't have a toy before."

Wrench was trying to breathe normally, but the judgmental tone of the whole conversation was getting on his nerves.

"Alright! I like her! That what you wanted to hear? Y'all happy now?"

His anger was sudden because he didn't like being poked like that, and he wasted no time in turning on his heel and throwing a little _I'm going out_. Taking the leather sort-of leash he made for his puppy was all she needed to run at his side after glancing one last time at the crew. Together they climbed the stairs to the outside while the others were still trying to process what just happened.

"This is definitely not about the puppy," Sitara stated.

They all nodded.

* * *

Outside the sun was just going to sleep, and the Mission Dolores Park was emptying more and more with time. Normal people were going back to their normal lives (which usually didn't include walks in the park as night-time activities). Only some runners and a few tourists remained at this hour.

Chainsaw was just following Wrench, making almost no sound when she walked compared to his heavy stomp, as if she didn't want to interrupt his current mood.  
The anarchist went as deep as possible in the park, trying to go right in the middle so people would leave him alone. There was no bench close enough, so he just took off his spiked vest for comfort and laid down in the grass next to the closest palm tree. His dog came to sit next to his head, and he sighed.

"That didn't go really well, did it?" he pat her. "Plus I didn't even try to talk to Marcus this past week. I'm such a lost cause."

Once again he could see that almost-scowl face she'd given him when they were together in his garage. That got a laugh out of him.

"Don’t give me that look. I know you’re not happy with me. I swear I tried... in my dreams," he sighed. "It just feels so difficult, girl."

"What does?"

Wrench jumped from his position to find Marcus standing there, in front of him. Chainsaw put a possessive paw on her owner's leg.  
The anarchist stopped his mask from displaying anything and went back to lying down.

"Nothing."

"Obviously it's not _nothing_ if you're talking about it to your dog," Marcus said, sitting next to him.

"She's a good listener."

"Well I'm your best friend, so I could be, too."

"For something else, maybe, but that you can't understand."

Marcus had trouble keeping a straight face. "...but your puppy can."

"Chainsaw is a lot more intelligent than she looks."

"Damn, if I knew she was gonna take my place I wouldn't have bought her for you."

"All good things come to an end, my friend," said Wrench in an over-dramatic tone, patting his bff's back. "You must accept your new place in my life."

Marcus chuckled, a sound Wrench realized he wanted to hear every day for the rest of his life.  
And he probably would hear it for quite some time, since Marcus was his best friend.

Best friend.

His own mind made it its mission to remind him of the scene in the garage with his tears and his puppy. Now wasn't the time to cry, god fucking dammit. He was so weak sometimes.  
He needed to do something. Going away seemed like the best available option right now; he felt like his heart was going to burst out of his chest and run away, much like a third stage Xenomorph.

Clearing his throat, he sat up and put his spiked vest back on. He needed to tell him right now, though, they were alone, it was the perfect setting. He could do it. He could-

"I should, uh, go," he heard his own disembodied voice say. Stupid. Stupid, stupid, stupid.

His wretched body followed, standing up and taking his displeased puppy's leash to start walking wherever he felt like (which was nowhere in particular).

As surprised as one could be in this situation, Marcus got up quickly to follow Wrench's fast pace and ran so he could stand in front of him. The anarchist stopped, and brackets on his mask showed his obvious exasperation.

"Man, what's happening to you?"

"I told you: nothing. Don't worry about it, M."

"Oh yes I'm gonna worry. Because I'm your friend, and I'm here for you. C'mon. Talk to me."

"You can't do anything about this, Marcus." Actually, he could, but it wasn't like he was going to tell him. Wrench's voice was beginning to crack.

Chainsaw, in the meantime, was getting tired of seeing her owner hurt himself. She made no noise, but took advantage of the way the two men were standing: right in front of each other.

She didn't have that much force, what with being a small puppy and all.

What she had, however, was a long-ass leash.

So she didn't even bother thinking it through (after all, she was only a puppy) and suddenly ran in circles around them as fast as she could. The leash came to an end, eventually, and they got about half a second to realize what was happening to them.

They instantly lost balance. Since there was nothing to grab (except for each other), they fell backwards with a thump. Wrench was now laying on top of Marcus because of his dog, a position that made him simply uncomfortable. He wasn't supposed to be there. That wasn't right. Because he wanted to stay.

His friend, on the other hand, was laughing.

He needed to get away from the warm body of the man he was in love with. Taken by a new-born anger, he untangled himself from the leather leash and turned to face Chainsaw.  
The puppy was already putting her tail between her back legs before he even started yelling at her, for the first time since she appeared in his life.

"What the fuck was that?!" he asked the dog with big hand gestures.

"Calm down, it's not that bad," Marcus said as he got up. "Nobody's hurt."

"Yes it is!"

"Why?"

"Because I fell right on top of you!"

"And?"

" _And I’m in love with you!_ "

They stood in a stunned silence for a couple of seconds. Marcus opened his mouth to answer, but Wrench wasn't ready to get rejected yet. He turned on his heel, grabbed his pet and ran to the nearest car. He hopped in, threw the puppy on the passenger seat and drove away as fast as he could.

He didn't have anywhere to go, he didn't want to go anywhere either, he just wanted to get out of there. Without thinking it through, he threw his phone out the window and didn't take the time to hear it crash fast on the concrete. That way, nobody could trace him.

At this point, Marcus had probably told everybody everything and Wrench was mentally cursing himself for not being able to shut up.

The car was speeding in the streets, burning every light while trying to get as far away from the hackerspace as possible. He couldn't possibly risk being caught back. Not now. He was angry because he let himself say it out loud. He was scared because nothing would ever be the same. The others wouldn't see him the same way, and his friendship with Marcus was now ruined forever.

What a great night.

Chainsaw was silent and concentrated on trying to stay put because she didn't have a seat belt and it was moving a lot. He didn't exactly know where to go, but taking the highway seemed like a great idea to him. He could go faster, and escape from the part of the city he didn't want to be in anymore.

He'd be back, eventually. The hackerspace could wait for him.

* * *

Marcus wanted to chase him, with every fibre of his being, but he didn't. He didn't run after Wrench, because his friend obviously didn't want to talk at all. So he let him go away and stood like an idiot in the middle of a park at night.

When he entered the hackerspace again, the others looked at him like something was wrong with his face and Sitara was the only one who started talking.

"So? Where's Wrench? What's his problem?"

"Uh," Marcus cleared his throat. "He, he ran off."

"Ran off? What did you say to him?"

"I didn't say anything," he said, glaring at her. "He did. He confessed, uh, something he didn't want to say."

To his surprise, Sitara smiled. "He finally admitted his feelings for you? Took him long enough."

"What the... You knew?"

Josh chimed in. "He wasn't exactly subtle. He probably thought he was, though."

Both of them took a minute to observe a dumbfounded and obviously confused Marcus Holloway, before Sitara decided to take action. She walked right in front of him, putting her hands on his shoulder and forcing him to look at her.

“Now, Marcus,” she started. “How are you planning on telling him you feel the same way?”

He thought about denying it, hell, he even opened his mouth to try and say it wasn’t the case. Wrench was his best friend, he’d always tried to think about him that way. But Sitara was no fool, and he was pretty sure even Josh would be able to spy the obvious lie. His shoulders slumped in defeat, and he looked back up to find a smile on his friend’s lips. She knew exactly what she was doing, and she was a great matchmaker.

He sighed, defeated.

“Well, we’ll need to find him first. He took a random car and left real quick, maybe we can just like, track his phone or something.”

“On it,” Josh muttered, frantically typing on his keyboard for a few seconds before turning back to them with a scared look. “I can’t find him. I think he got rid of the phone.”

“That means he doesn’t wanna be found, maybe we should just leave him alone for a while,” Sitara mused.

Marcus shook his head. “No way. I don’t care if he doesn’t want me to come, I’m going. I say we check the city cameras, that should do it.”

Neither of the friends said another word, and Josh turned back to his computer to access the city’s surveillance cameras. They took the plate and appearance of the car Wrench had taken to make his exit - _damn, Marcus, that really upset him_ \- and concentrated on following the vehicle through all the cameras they could use. 

Wrench was intelligent though, and lost them more than a few times by taking back alleys to slow their search down. Then, the worst part: he took the highway.

As much as Blume loved spying on everyone, the highways didn’t have the luxury of possessing cameras, and they lost their friend.

Both Sitara and Marcus had to calm down Josh, who was already picturing an accident because of the high speed Wrench was driving at (he didn’t even want to imagine what the puppy was enduring).

They eventually found him again, and followed the car as far as they could. Marcus threw a _thanks_ at the rest of DedSec and left without a look back to find his best friend.

Oakland it was.

* * *

Wrench didn’t know what he was doing. He didn’t know where he was driving. He didn’t even know why he’d fled, why he didn’t switch cars, why he hadn’t stayed in back alleys instead of taking the highway. One thing he knew for sure: his friends would track him using the city’s spying spider web, and he didn’t want to make it easy for them.

Don’t.

Let.

Marcus.

Get.

To.

You.

Chainsaw had decided to hide under the glovebox, laid down so she could avoid getting hurt. But right now, he didn’t even want to care about how she was doing. He just wanted to flee. Hide. Maybe he could leave San Francisco?

Who was he kidding. Where the fuck would he go, what the fuck would he do, who the fuck would he have apart from his dog?

No, he just needed to stay alone for a bit, in a place where nobody would go looking for him.

Mother Nature was good at that.

The fact that it was dark now was a blessing. It gave him hours and hours of peace and shadows before sunrise, and finding a hiding spot wouldn’t be a problem.

Actually, he had an idea.

He slowed down after passing Oakland’s DedSec HQ, and took a right turn in North Hills. Only nice houses and respectables families here, but most importantly: an access to dirt roads. He took another right turn to access the useless part of town, continuing up the barely lit path. Up. Always up. He passed countless rocks and trees, but still went up. He finally crossed a wooden bridge and passed another rock, before taking a hard right and driving right in the middle of the trees. He went as far as possible before stopping the car and turning the light and engine off. After a few seconds of heavy breathing, he got out of the vehicle.

Chainsaw was more than happy when Wrench opened the door for her, and didn’t move when he went to sit against one of the tree. He sighed, trying his best not to cry, and attempted to look at the horizon instead. You could see the city lights from here, even the bridge all lit up under the clear night sky. It _was_ a pretty nice view, and he decided all he was going to do was enjoy it for a few hours.

He took off his mask, putting it on the ground next to him, and didn’t move when his puppy came to him. He did look at her, though, and almost broke down. Tail between her legs, ears down, she was looking at him as though she wanted to apologize.

Unable to resist, he took her in his arms and they watched the city from up here, alone at last for a while.

It gave him time to think about what to do now. Marcus obviously wasn’t going to look at him the same. He’d just ruined their friendship. Hopefully, they’d be able to put it all behind and act as if nothing had happened. He didn’t want to lose his best friend, even if he had to live with a broken heart for the rest of his life.

Taken by the sudden need to cuddle something, he buried his face in Chainsaw’s fur (or what little she had of it).

“M’sorry I yelled at you, girl.”

In a way, saying sorry to his puppy was weird but he felt like he needed to do it. It wasn’t all her fault. They both were. One fucked-up hacker and his dog, hiding like cowards in a dark part of San Francisco.

It was too late to hide when he saw the headlights of the car gently driving up the road.

Now that he thought about it, he should’ve taken a boat and stopped in the middle of the water. At least this way they wouldn’t have found him.

* * *

Marcus had been driving like crazy to get there. Almost hit a few cars speeding up the highway, which was far too crowded. Of all places in the city, Wrench had to chose _Oakland_. So many back alleys and hidden parts he could’ve gone to, but fortunately the cameras went far enough.

He entered North Hills’ little neighborhood and, in an act of desperation - _he_ had _to find him_ \- took the dirt road in the back of the district. That’s where they had lost him. He lowered his head when he passed the oil tank, careful not to be suspicious when he saw some guards in there.

Then he passed rocks.

And a bridge.

And some empty trunks.

That’s when he slowed down.

Because after said empty trunks and some rocks, well-hidden behind a lot of trees, he could distinctly see the grey car his best friend had taken in a hurry. That was it.

He slowed down before turning off the engine and every light he had. 

Marcus took a deep breath. Concentrated on driving fast, he’d still had time to think about what he was going to say. And he didn’t really like his idea, but since it was his only one, he wasn’t gonna be picky. He took off his headphones and left his phone on the passenger seat before getting out. Careful not to run ( _stay calm, dude_ ), he climbed up the hill and found his best friend sitting against a tree, hugging his dog. The mask was gone.

He cleared his throat but said nothing and rounded the tree to sit against it too, albeit on Wrench’s left. He felt and heard more than saw him raise his head.

The silence continued for well over a minute, both of them looking at the city. Marcus was the one to break it, his voice lower than usual.

“So, I came here because you may have replaced me with the ball of fur, but I haven’t. And I need my best friend’s advice right now.”

He waited for a few seconds, and kept going when he got no answer, trying to keep calm. He could do this.

“You tell me if you want me to stop talking. So there’s this guy, you know. He’s really cool. Like, we like the same things and we get along pretty nice,” Marcus said. He gulped. This was harder than anticipated. “But I got a problem, because he’s a great friend but I don’t really see him as a friend anymore. Like, it’s been a few months, but, I mean, you know, I like him a lot more than that. Did you know I’m pan? I never really thought about it before, but I kinda discovered it when I met this guy.” He heard a shift in his friend’s position. Oh, good. That got his attention. He needed to talk fast now. He didn’t want to be interrupted. “But today I screwed up, because apparently he feels the same, and it slipped but since I’m an idiot I didn’t answer. So he ran away and I _just_ managed to find him again and I wanted to say a lot of things, but I’m awkward and, you know, I’m rambling a lot when all I want to say is I love you, man.”

He meant to keep talking about Wrench like another person, but he couldn’t take it anymore. This was too much. He closed his eyes, took a deep breath and waited for an answer. It came.

“Love sucks.”

Wrench’s answer at least got a laugh out of Marcus, and he turned to face him. Chainsaw got out of her owner’s lap, letting them interact without getting in the way.

“Yeah, it really does.”

“We’re stupid.”

“Agreed. The guys had us figured out since the beginning.”

“Seriously?”

“I think Sitara’s relieved.”

“I mean, me too,” Wrench mumbled. His furball having left his lap, he got closer to Marcus who happily took him in his arms.

Two fearless hackers, cuddling under the night’s sky.

Wrench got out of his now boyfriend’s - _oh my god_ \- grasp, and Marcus looked at him with renewed attention before speaking.

“Can I just do something?”

“Su-”

Wrench didn’t get a chance to fully answer the question, because Marcus had already crashed his lips on his. And they shared their first real kiss and it was messy and sweet and a little awkward. In other words, perfect.

“God, it’s like we’re in a fucking rom-com,” he said after breaking off, trying to sound exasperated. The comment was worth it, if only for Marcus’ wonderful laugh warming up his heart.

“We all know you secretly like rom-coms.”

Wrench chuckled.

“Yeah, I do.”


End file.
